The Allotment Book

The Allotment Book Andi Clevely A wonderfully illustrated celebration of the blood, sweat and joy to be had ‘growing your own’ in an allotment – with the in-depth, practical gardening know-how for which Collins is renowned.No longer considered the preserve of old men in sheds, allotment gardening is currently enjoying a renaissance of interest. People of all ages and from all walks of life are digging their own plots in search of the ultimate in fresh, organic produce – and you cannot get more locally-sourced than your own allotment!This book testifies to the vibrancy of allotment culture, aiming both to inspire the next generation of plot-holders and to provide all the practical knowledge needed to turn a patch of soil into a lifelong adventure.Open to all the eco-gardening techniques, and the various weird and wonderful ways people make use of their plots, contents include:• the history of allotments – from 19th century origins, through wartime ‘Dig for Victory’, to the cosmopolitan communities of today; features photos and interviews with current plot-holders• planning your perfect allotment – finding it, assessing it, clearing the ground and working out what to grow• the brown stuff – all you need to know about soil management, the key to growing success• choosing a gardening method – organic, biodynamic, rotation beds, companion planting, greenhouse, multi-level, potager, cottage garden, and so on…• the hard stuff – constructing sheds, compost bins, cold frames, fruit cages, ponds, seating and play areas• selecting crops – what and how to grow, from parsnips and peas to chilli peppers and lemon grass• cultivation techniques – digging, sowing, feeding, weeding and harvesting, plus troubleshooting pests and diseases• the allotment calendar – extensive, month-by-month look at what’s in season, jobs for now and looking ahead The Allotment Book Andi Clevely A practical guide to creating and enjoying your own perfect plot This book is dedicated with love to Ruth Prentice, who devised the idea. Nice one! Table of Contents Cover Page (#udbcb9200-bdff-51bf-8719-a31d79de8486) Title Page (#u605cfb71-0713-55a4-90af-01fc1ef8ac3d) Dedication (#u88393867-ff72-510b-bacc-382aa2b7a293) Foreword by jekka mcvicar (#uf9f5259a-4083-5e6d-9af5-169b57cdd132) Introduction (#ua27e5a30-d2cb-5e21-973f-c57c6deeaa1a) The perfect allotment (#ubda7ecd6-775b-507d-b66c-dad511ada789) Crops for your allotment (#u00e76048-954c-50f6-b7f8-9b4d82c9a58a) Cultivating your allotment (#litres_trial_promo) The allotment year (#litres_trial_promo) Resources (#litres_trial_promo) Index (#litres_trial_promo) Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo) About the Author (#litres_trial_promo) Copyright (#litres_trial_promo) About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo) Foreword by jekka mcvicar (#ulink_a0d88a14-821e-50b3-8900-13d36f841bf6) I vividly remember as a child helping my mother to dig up the new potatoes in our garden and being amazed that the one potato we had planted had produced so many baby potatoes. I also remember the delight of helping to pick the strawberries, which included eating as many as I put in the punnet. The many bonuses of being brought up with a productive garden was not only the abundance of fruit and vegetables but also the fact that, because my mother was a fantastic cook, the house was often filled with the aroma of wonderful food. This was most prevalent at harvest time when she made jellies, jams and chutneys, which we used throughout the winter months and which she also gave as Christmas presents to friends and family. Crowned the ‘queen of herbs’ by Jamie Oliver and one of Rick Stein’s food heroes, Jekka McVicar is the UK’s leading organic herb grower. Her family-run organic herb farm now grows over 500 varieties and holds the largest collection of culinary and medicinal herbs in the country. In addition to managing the farm business, Jekka is a regular TV and radio presenter and has published several successful books on growing herbs, raising plants from seed and cooking with flowers. This picture shows Jekka at work on the farm with her dog Hampton (also known as Mutty). Visit her website at: www.jekkasherbfarm.com. I have been lucky enough to re-create these fond memories for my own children with a vegetable plot for which they have sown the seeds and harvested the crop. Growing your own vegetables and fruit not only gives you control of what you and your children eat but also the goodness of delicious fresh produce and the added bonus of fresh air, good fun and great exercise. In this beautiful book, Andi Clevely captures the essence of the allotment, showing how it is a relaxing and sociable way to garden, and a great opportunity to meet fellow gardeners, young and old. You are guaranteed the sharing of fresh food, expertise, gossip, fun and friendship, which goes to prove that the allotment is a microcosm of today’s society without walls. More importantly, this book is teeming with valuable information based on the experience that Andi has gained over the years in his garden and on his allotment; this includes seed germination times, average yields and his recommended varieties of fruit and vegetables. He also demystifies gardening terminology and gives good basic down-to-earth information on dealing with pests and diseases, making this book relevant for both the novice and the connoisseur. With this book I defy anyone not to enjoy the wonderful world of the allotment, from the soil to the table. Introduction (#ulink_a023ac76-9d84-55ff-b2c4-217367f701d2) Pause for a while as you walk around your allotment, and reflect. All land has a hidden history and, unless the site is very new, you will be treading in the footsteps of previous tenants, possibly going back for generations. Other hands turned the same soil before you, sowing seeds, tending rows of plants and harvesting produce from the piece of earth that is now yours. The biography of any allotment plot is an intimate tale of dreams and necessities, success and failure that, in most cases, is sadly unrecorded but cherished privately as part of everyday personal or family memories. The background to allotment gardening as a unique and important social movement is more clearly charted. Its origins can vary widely from one community or country to another, but common to all is the need for access to other people’s land by those with none of their own. The word ‘allotment’ means portion, in this context a rented allocation of ground, together with conditions of tenure and use that will vary depending on the owner or the culture. The right to dig The earliest allocations were often acts of charity or benevolence, aimed at addressing poverty and hunger and the costs of relieving these misfortunes. The situation was gravest wherever ancient local traditions and conventions allowing people to cultivate common land and to pasture animals had been eroded by the rich and powerful. In Britain for example, almost from the Norman Conquest onwards, landowners had steadily enclosed land, evicting its inhabitants and dismantling well-established local subsistence economies and their elaborate heritage of safeguards, and in the process producing a whole class of rural dispossessed. Outrage boiled over into action in 1649 when the Diggers, a group of hungry victims of recession, took over waste land in a mass trespass and began to sow it with beans, carrots, parsnips and wheat. One of their leaders, Gerrard Winstanley, called passionately on ‘the common people to manure and work upon the common lands’ and insisted all should have the ‘right to dig’, a sentiment still heard wherever urban radicals invade unused land with the intention of growing food. Although quickly dispersed by the Government of the time, the Diggers gave direction and powerful moral impetus to the general claim to land. They turned a fundamental urgent need to fill empty bellies into political principles of social rights and economic equality that gathered support as discontent grew. Their protest gradually provoked a response, at first local and individual – a few far-sighted landlords supplied their labourers with plots for cultivation – and then more generally as crucial legislation was passed. This culminated in 1845 with the General Inclosure Act, which made the provision of allotments for the working poor mandatory throughout Britain. Elsewhere in the world similar sequences of necessity and challenge or confrontation can be traced, often leading to land seizure or allocation, events that are usually driven by the same tensions of inequality between landowners and landless. By contrast, the outcome can be a model of equity: on an allotment site all pay equal rent for the same size portion of land and rights of use, whatever their wealth, ability or social standing. It might be seen as a glimpse of Winstanley’s dream of the day when ‘the whole earth shall be a common treasury for every man’. Every allotment gardener is a participant in this great evolving story Winstanley was just one key activist, probably the earliest, among many in the chequered history of the international allotment movement, and every country has its own heroes – Anna and Carl Lindhagen in Sweden, Abb? Lemire in France, Bolton Hall in the USA with his vision of ‘little plots well tilled’. When tilling your own plot it might take a leap of imagination to link your efforts with these prime movers and their supporting thinkers, such as Peter Kropotkin with his anarchist philosophy of self help and mutual aid, the libertarian Proudhon who famously asserted ‘Property is theft’, or the New Englander Henry Thoreau, hoeing beans beside Walden Pond. Changing fortunes For many people, however, desperate hunger or economic need was the chief, often sole reason for growing their own, a drive that was reinforced early last century by the equally imperative national demands of world war and inter-war depression. In many parts of Europe and the USA both a sense of patriotism and enforced self-sufficiency caused a boom in allotment gardening, urged on by slogans such as ‘Hoe for Liberty’, ‘Soldiers of the Soil’ and ‘Dig for Victory’. Numbers of plots and active tenancies reached a peak that has rarely been equalled since, even during the brief and idealized back-to-the-land fashion of the 1960s. From the 1950s onwards, enthusiasm for allotments began to wane in the UK as a result of greater affluence, higher employment and the wider availability of food supplies, and many plots, even whole sites, were under-used, neglected or abandoned. This decline, interpreted by pessimists as the imminent end of the allotment movement, was not reflected worldwide, where material necessity often remained (and still remains) an urgent motivation. The decline was in any case short-lived, for a couple of decades later allotment gardening in many industrialized countries experienced a major revival as a new breed of plot-holders began to emerge. The priorities of these fresh recruits were often focused more on the quality of life, rather than survival itself. Concern about chemical residues in fresh food and its limited choice, excessive packaging and transport costs all made growing your own organically an appealing and reasonable proposition. The proven physical and mental health benefits gave gardening a central role in therapy and rehabilitation programmes, as well as making it an effective way to escape from the stress and highly organized structure of modern society – for many, working on their plot became a kind of declaration of independence, an emancipation from uniformity. The old utilitarian image of allotment sites began to change as the plots were seen to be important recreational facilities for the whole family as well as vital habitats in the process of ‘greening’ our cities. The global garden Although still firmly rooted in its tradition of individual land access and cultivation, the modern allotment now thrives in a more diverse and stimulating cultural context. There is no neat pattern of social stratification: increasing numbers of women, families, young professionals and gardeners from all ethnic cultures are bringing both variety and vitality to plots that, until quite recently, were tended mainly by older men striving to make ends meet. Kurdish strains of coriander, South American arugula, Ethiopian teff and dengi for Bangladeshi curries have joined the carrots and cabbages in narrow, neatly edged organic or no-dig beds as well as in the contoured meanders of permaculture plots (see page 31). These days, urban allotments are just as likely to sport barbecue sites, wildlife sanctuaries, heritage seed collections, forest gardens, sculpture, beehives and ponds as once-derided rows of yellowing Brussels sprouts. Schools use sites for wildlife projects, environmental groups turn them into tree nurseries for urban regeneration and disabled gardeners have found new challenges and satisfactions on allotment sites. Wherever you look, allotments continue to grow in social and economic importance as well as lively diversity. In New York, the City Farms project revived the Victory Garden zeal of the 1940s, organizing the production, marketing and distribution of fresh food among disadvantaged neighbourhoods from over 30 community gardens. Brazilian street children grow radishes for sale, St Petersburg prisoners raise black trifele tomatoes in their prison rooftop allotment, and German Kleingartens help refugee women to settle in their new home as they grow their traditional crops. Community gardening is as much about greening cities and healing wounds as simply ensuring food security. Community gardening is as much about greening cities and healing wounds as simply ensuring food security The future The unique value of allotment plots is set to grow both internationally and on a personal level. In urban areas land use is becoming increasingly competitive, and many plot-holders are having to make a political stand to prevent their sites and rights being eroded to make way for roads and new buildings. In 2001, Denmark set an enlightened example to other countries by making all community gardens permanent and secure in law, but elsewhere their status is more precarious. Winstanley and the Diggers would probably recognize the modern threats to land rights and our ‘common treasury’, and his crusading spirit might be welcome back in many site offices. Agenda 21 of the 1997 Kyoto Agreement imposes a moral obligation on governments to commit themselves to support sustainable development, fight poverty and avoid destroying the resources of future generations. Allotments are an environmental asset, both for wildlife and for the health and well-being of plot-holders, and they add texture to lives and communities, while soil is possibly mankind’s most precious resource. So protecting and regenerating these community plots should be a key part of local strategies in the changing environmental context. For many tenants, however, the main value of their plot of ground will always be intensely personal. On an allotment you might have responsibilities, but you also have freedom: the freedom to enjoy the company of like-minded, supportive and often highly experienced gardeners or simply to relax in the fresh air, away from modern pressures. You are free to grow your food by your own chosen methods, indulging whim, tradition and individuality to your own satisfaction, and to harvest it close to home in peak condition. Ideas and attitudes might change – modern tenants may be quite different from their predecessors of two or three generations back, and allotments continue to evolve socially, from ‘plots for the poor’ to ‘gardens for a greener world’. But some aspects of allotment gardening are reassuringly constant, and from a down-to-earth perspective nothing has fundamentally changed: the soil is almost the same as it was (slightly improved in the best cases), the weather remains a seasonal challenge (but a little more so with the advent of climate change), and the basic gardening techniques are those familiar to the Diggers of more than three centuries ago. Getting involved Allotments do not exist in a vacuum, and sooner or later you are sure to encounter politics. Local authorities vary in their commitment to the sites in their care, from fiercely supportive to indifferent or hostile, and the land itself is often a valuable asset coveted by developers. Committees and associations have sometimes had to respond to threatened erosion of rights by assuming self-management, mobilizing defence campaigns or filing legal challenges. Growing good food remains the main purpose of an allotment plot Elsewhere stable, thriving sites are regenerated by introducing projects that involve other local residents or improve interaction with the wider community. Advertising, special events, training courses, mentoring schemes and shared work days on tenants’ plots have all helped to revive flagging enthusiasm. Unused areas or merged plots have been transformed into wildlife sites or communal gardens where schools or special interest organizations can have their own facilities. A growing awareness of environmental issues, social inequalities, sustainability and funding has led to a host of constructive and exciting developments that reinvent the nature of allotment gardening. How much you participate is for you to decide: growing good food remains the main purpose of an allotment plot, and this can bring you both peace and productivity, but you may be surprised just how beneficial it can be to feel part of the wider allotment community. The perfect allotment (#ulink_b3104d4e-5524-515c-b8e4-0f5f4828f70a) From first contemplating and acquiring an allotment to choosing gardening methods and tools, there are many opportunities and options to consider before you set out to sow or plant your first crops. making a start Why have an allotment? There are numerous compelling reasons to have an allotment. For some people, it is an instinctive and traditional activity, and even in industrialized countries no one is more than a few generations away from working the land. Others feel that manufacturers and processors have systematically destroyed their food culture, and that the only way to ensure a reliable (often affordable) source of favourite fruit and vegetables without chemical intervention is to grow them oneself. And growing crops close to home reduces the environmental cost of ‘food miles’ associated with long-distance transport. Fresh, good-quality food is not the only essential ingredient of a healthy lifestyle, however. Regular exercise is just as vital, and working in the open air on your own piece of ground can be a more agreeable and productive way of keeping fit than going to the gym. In urban areas, allotments are vital oases of open recreational space, healing places that soothe the spirit and subdue mental stress. Many welcome the strong, supportive sense of community (although you are equally free to be peacefully alone, if you prefer). Tending a plot can be a shared activity for families, while the wider community of plotholders, uniting gardeners of varied ages, abilities and backgrounds around a shared interest, offers the kind of support, co-operation and tolerance often lacking beyond the site boundary. You can find sanity and sanctuary as well as opportunity on an allotment. FINDING AN ALLOTMENT How you go about finding an allotment depends to a great extent on where you live, but in the UK you should first contact your local authority because most allotments are council-owned. These allotments may be statutory, in which case they are protected by law, or temporary sites on leased or rented land, where long-term tenancy is not guaranteed. Some sites are privately owned – by churches or public utilities, for example – and the best way to find out how to rent one of these is to ask an existing tenant. A standard full-size allotment is about 250 sq.m (300 sq.yd), but half, quarter, even one-tenth plots are sometimes offered. You may find a vacant plot to take over straight away, or have to join a waiting list if demand is high and the site full. A tenancy agreement, which usually lasts for a year and is renewable, is signed by you and the owner or owner’s agent (such as a site association) and you will pay rent, which the law says must be reasonable, in advance. In return you can usually expect safe access to your plot, an easily accessible water supply (its cost often included in the rent), and adequate site security. The site will usually have at least toilet facilities and a communal hut for storage, meetings and the sale of materials. Your plot may also be equipped with a shed, sometimes for extra rent, and permanent paths. The agreement will explain your rights – to grow vegetables and fruit for personal use, and also possibly to keep hens or rabbits and sometimes other livestock such as pigeons or bees, depending on local bye-laws – and your responsibilities. Chief among these is the duty to maintain the plot in good cultivation, with respect to your neighbours and other plot-holders. There may also be restrictions on using hosepipes, lighting bonfires, creating ponds, planting trees or fencing the plot (especially with dangerous materials like barbed wire). You are normally not permitted to sublet or use the plot as a business. ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATIONS Well-managed allotment associations welcome new tenants in different ways. You may be given a starter pack that includes all the benefits and opportunities open to you (like sharing in a bulk purchase of materials or manure), a full description of the site as a whole and possibly details of your own plot, and even the offer of assistance from volunteer members to help you clear an overgrown plot and get started. A key common reason for taking on a plot, whatever the private social or therapeutic motivation might be, is the deep sense of achievement when you harvest your own food. Daily work is often far removed from the basic satisfaction of making or producing something, while increasing pressure on the use of land results in gardens becoming ever smaller. An allotment can be a wonderful place to rediscover a sense of fulfilment. Assessing yourself Whatever your motivation for acquiring an allotment, it is a good idea to assess your aims and capabilities. Be realistic about what you can achieve – it is easy for idealism to cloud judgement. However, owning an allotment may be less demanding than you imagine. TIME It is possible to manage a plot well with a single weekly visit, although you will probably want to visit more often, especially when regular watering and harvesting are necessary. Add in your journey time if you live far from the site. If you don’t have your own vehicle, check out public transport links and consider whether you will be able to call upon friends to give you a lift with heavy items. Techniques like mulching can postpone the need for urgent attention, and neighbours will often share the care if you are away. COMMITMENT Regular care is essential, even required in some tenancy agreements. As the sun doesn’t always shine, this will sometimes mean working in cold or wet weather. Low-maintenance methods, however, reduce the amount of routine tasks. You ultimately decide how much or how little you do, and even sitting out a rain shower in the shed can be therapeutic. STAMINA Basic physical abilities are an advantage. Cultivating some soils can be strenuous work, and you might prefer to get someone to rotavate the plot for you. Routine skill and dexterity come with experience, and techniques are easily adapted for elderly and disabled plot-holders. And, with the goodwill of most allotment-holders, help with a particular task is often only a plot away. EXPLORING YOUR PLOT Before contemplating crops and how you intend to grow them, assess the plot as a place where you would enjoy working and possibly spending a lot of leisure time. Note all its apparent deficiencies as well as its merits and, if necessary, its scope for change. Although you will probably alter or adjust things as you go on, discoveries and decisions that are made now can affect future plans. Don’t rush into anything because time, weather and inclination are all unpredictable. ? The condition of the plot may be immediately obvious if it is overgrown, still partly planted up, or empty and cleared. Find some exposed soil and examine its character (see page 115) – plans that ignore the nature of the soil are unlikely to succeed. ? Note the lie of the land – whether it slopes and in which direction (this can affect temperature and the amount of sunshine it receives); low ground could be a frost-pocket or it may be waterlogged. Find out about prevailing winds. (See also pages 116 and 169.) ? Light and shade are important influences, so notice if existing tree canopies cast deep shadow, which might interfere with growth, or merely light shade, which is a valuable asset for sensitive crops in midsummer. ? Identify convenient places for essential accessories like compost bins, a shed, cold frame or manure stack. Try to find a draught-free position for sitting or eating. ? Access is vital: evaluate existing paths, their condition and durability, whether they are wide enough to take a wheelbarrow, and if they provide a direct, clear route to important places such as the shed, compost bin and main access road. ? Explore your surroundings. Locate the nearest water source, and assess any boundaries, hedges and fences for security, shelter or perhaps wild crops to harvest later. Study other plots for ideas and encouragement. Introduce yourself to neighbours, who can usually add information to your important first impressions. AMBITION You need an aim in mind, confidence in yourself and sufficient common sense to temper your dreams with an awareness of your limitations, particularly at those times of year when a plot can seem both huge and unmanageable. Remember, though, that every year is a fresh beginning, when you can revise or simplify your plans. A plot that is too large can be shared with others or you can usually rent a part-allotment, and persistence always pays in the end. COST If you have to buy tools, starting up can be expensive, especially if you add refinements, such as edging beds with boards and a greenhouse, shed or fruit cage. Don’t forget to include rent and travel expenses in your costs. However, you don’t have to renovate or plant up a whole allotment in the first season. You can start on the most neglected plot with just a mattock or spade and a few packets of seeds. SEE ALSO ? Tools pages 54-5 Mulching page 119The allotment year pages 166-215 Resources pages 216-18 devising a plan Making sketches During your first visit to the allotment, make a rough sketch plan of the plot with the position of all the important features like paths and any buildings, existing beds and perennial plants or remaining crops. Annotate the plan with any information you might gather about soil, aspect, exposure or neighbouring plots. Note any sloping ground because you will tend to take loads of manure or water in one direction more than others, and this might influence your layout. When you are back home, make another plan, this time of your ideal plot. Allocate space for all your favourite crops and anything else you would like to grow, bearing in mind which need sun, shade or plenty of water and attention, as this could affect their siting. Consider the extra facilities you might like now or in the future – a family gathering place, cold frames or a fruit cage – but remember that you can always change your mind and adapt the plan later. All this preliminary thought can help you to visualize life on the plot and so translate your dream into reality. BOUNDARIES & PATHS These are important, and establish the plot’s shape and means of access. The edges of your plot could simply be paths or lines on the ground, or a previous tenant may have arranged something more elaborate. However, comprehensive fencing of any kind is inappropriate and a waste of ground; it may also possibly contravene site rules. A useful way to define boundaries is to make natural boundaries, such as training fruit on posts and horizontal wires (see page 147), which can be very productive while occupying little space. Free-standing fruit bushes or seasonal hedges of runner beans, Jerusalem artichokes, sunflowers or herbs like angelica can confer privacy and relief from wind, perhaps screening an area for a sheltered seat. There may only be one or two existing paths, dividing your plot from those next door. As these will probably be shared, any changes, improvement or maintenance should be negotiated with neighbours. Paths within the plot are your exclusive responsibility. For practical purposes, main paths usually need to be straight, weather-proof, wide enough for comfort, and run directly between important points. Subsidiary paths (between beds, for example) can be narrower, even temporary arrangements, planned to allow access to cultivate and tend the various areas. The material used will vary from plot to plot, although some sites are laid out with a grid of permanent paved paths. They will often be made of grass, which needs mowing or trimming periodically, while trampled earth is sufficient to allow simple maintenance between beds – protect those on wet ground with sacking, bark or waste timber slats. Paving slabs are the best long-term solution, or you could use gravel spread about 5cm (2in) deep on top of a weed-suppressant membrane (but beware: deep or smooth gravel can impede laden wheelbarrows). how to garden Methods of cultivation Plot-holders quickly become very attached to their allotments. If growing your own produce is a new experience, you will probably find that your initial attention is focused on the routine of starting and tending plants, culminating in the anticipation and triumph of harvesting fresh food that you have produced yourself, an experience that never palls. BIODIVERSITY News reports document the alarming worldwide decline in biodiversity, the variety and numbers of plants and creatures on earth. How you manage your plot can have an equally critical impact on wildlife at a much more local level, and is more within your power to control. Using sustainable gardening methods and minimizing disturbance to natural life cycles can help safeguard the future for other species that use the plot. An allotment is often teeming with life, whether it is soil-based and out of sight, or more obvious, like the birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles that may be found on any sensitively managed site. Before long, however, you will become aware of a wider context: life in the soil and surroundings, the influence of local geography and climate, and even the old-fashioned concept of stewardship – your responsibility for the continuing welfare of the land in your care. This could lead you into asking more fundamental questions about the way you are growing your crops, and the implications of simply imposing a basic plan on the plot for short-term results. Alternative methods Gardeners have explored and tested alternative methods of cultivation, particularly since a spreading ecological awareness has meant that chemical-based gardening seems increasingly untenable and is no longer the norm. Attempts to treat nature as an ally and work in harmony with the environment have resulted in a variety of sympathetic approaches. The most familiar of these is organic gardening, but other approaches have gone further: biodynamic gardening harnesses the subtle influence of the moon’s phases on growth, for example, while forest gardening imitates the natural structure of woodland habitats to pack a lot of plants amicably into a small space. None of these methods has a monopoly on success, nor are they mutually exclusive, and the basic mechanics of sowing, planting, tending and harvesting remain broadly the same whichever you choose. In the end your own inclination and personal conviction through good results will help you decide which and how many of these methods feels right for managing your allotment. ORGANIC GARDENING Many plot-holders first choose to grow their own because they want top-quality fresh food produced in a way they approve, which often means organically. But there is more to organic gardening than simply giving up artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Replacing these inorganic inputs involves following a different cultural routine more in harmony with natural cycles and environmental susceptibilities. Possibly the most fundamental principle is to feed the soil rather than the plant, using organic materials, such as compost and manure (see pages 116–19), that encourage soil organisms to flourish and make nutrients available to plants. It is even possible to abandon animal manures if you prefer, and concentrate instead on garden compost, leafmould (see page 208), plant-based fertilizers and green manures (see page 119) as sources of fertility. Controlling problems involves a range of precautions and treatments (often termed ‘integrated pest management’) rather than simply reaching for a specific spray. Efficient crop rotation (see pages 32–5) is one sound method. This can be combined with using resistant plants sown at times when pests are less prevalent, encouraging natural predators and companion plants (see page 35), and keeping the plot tidy and well maintained. GIVING UP CHEMICALS A plot that has been maintained with inorganic fertilizers and chemical treatments can often show signs of an impoverished soil structure and a dependence on supplementary feeding. Improving and feeding the soil will have long-term benefits, whether you choose to grow organically or continue to use chemical inputs. Growing fully organic crops on it immediately may, at first, lead to depressed yields, especially while it is difficult to produce or acquire enough compost and manure. Also, pest and disease problems can escalate when plants are not sufficiently vigorous to withstand attacks. If you decide to garden organically, you may prefer to adopt a gradualist approach and compromise, using chemical treatments at least for the first two to three seasons while the new routine is established. You can respond to particular pests and diseases with treatments of low toxicity or short persistence, or try to avoid them with traps, barriers and deterrents. Instead of using herbicides, you can manage weeds by mulching, hoeing, hand-weeding, spacing the crops in such a way that denies weeds light, and minimal cultivation to avoid germinating weed seeds. The result is produce that may taste better – but this is also affected by other cultural factors such as variety, season or the amount of watering – and that will certainly be free from any chemical residues. The soil will be nurtured rather than exploited, abused or simply taken for granted; wildlife is respected and encouraged; and you will have avoided waste by recycling compostable materials and returning them to the soil. BIODYNAMIC GARDENING Some find biodynamics slightly esoteric or metaphysical, but this gardening philosophy has had a strong following ever since the 1920s, when Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher and agricultural expert, first outlined his rules for rescuing soil fertility from over-intensive cropping and chemicals. The approach is essentially holistic as well as organic, acknowledging the effects of natural rhythms and cycles on growth and following principles that restore the vitality as well as fertility lost when ground is cultivated and crops harvested. Biodynamics embraces organic and ecologically sound gardening methods, but it goes further than that: feeding the soil is not considered sufficient because the earth itself needs healing from past abuses. Remedies for this include treating the land with special herbal tonics, and gardening in tune with all the influences that can possibly affect plant growth – these range from street lighting and water quality to planetary aspects and phases of the moon. Followers accept that some of these beliefs defy current scientific knowledge, but suggest that proof lies in the pudding – pragmatic trials seem to work, even if the reasons for the results are unknown. Key elements when exploring this approach include making compost the biodynamic way, with special therapeutic preparations and a planting calendar, which uses the positions of the planets to find the ideal times for sowing or harvesting. It also involves becoming aware of the unique character of your plot, so that you gradually develop a full understanding of the land and an intuitive sense of what it needs to boost the vitality and abundance of its produce. FOREST GARDENING A natural forest or wood has a layered structure that allows all kinds of plants to grow together and share resources such as light, water and fertility. Forest gardening imitates this by arranging edible plants in a series of tiers. The highest is a canopy of fruit trees like plums and apples, which are pruned to admit plenty of light to plants below. Under this is a shrub layer of shade-tolerant soft fruit bushes, such as gooseberries or redcurrants, surrounded by perennial herbs and vegetables at ground level; climbers filter through from the ground to the top tier. Total productivity from the plot is high because plants of different habit and height can fit around each other to make the most of available resources. And the diversity of crops shares fertility efficiently by feeding at different levels; it also discourages specific pests and diseases from taking hold. Beneficial plants such as legumes and comfrey are included to supply minerals and nutrients to their neighbours; others are planted to attract both insect predators and pollinating insects. The majority of plants are either perennial or self-seeding annuals, which makes digging almost unnecessary, although some cultivated patches can be integrated for growing extra crops like annual roots or runner beans to climb into the tree layer. A few open areas can be left for sun-loving vegetables and herbs. The whole garden is kept heavily mulched to control water loss and most weeds, so maintenance consists chiefly of clipping or pulling up invasive species or the odd weed. PERMACULTURE This is an ethical design system that attempts to minimize our environmental impact by planning a sustainable and ecologically sound lifestyle, including the way in which we grow our food. Permaculture gardening draws together many ideas from other philosophies, such as no-dig practices (see page 36), the edible perennials of forest gardening, most of the established organic principles, and the ornamental aims of the French potager and the North American ‘edible landscape’ movement. PERENNIAL CROPS Forest gardening depends heavily on perennial crops, but even under conventional methods of management there are some popular perennial vegetables that can be fitted into the allotment’s layout where they can grow undisturbed for five years or more. Asparagus is best allocated a bed to itself, although the attractive fern will blend with perennial flowers in an integrated border; globe artichokes, rhubarb and Welsh onions could be included, too. Perennial cauliflowers, good king henry and salad dandelions are less appealing and would be better in a separate corner. Clean the ground well before planting, feed or mulch annually to sustain growth, and replant the crops on fresh ground when they need renewal. Check regularly for pests and diseases that might be passed to seasonal crops. With this design system, the garden or allotment is divided into zones, with plants that require the most attention closer to hand. A typical border will include ‘keyholes’, which are short paths branching to the side of a main pathway. These paths are surrounded by zones of plants, the closest (salads or spinach, for example) requiring frequent care or harvest, while the furthest, such as cabbages or squashes, need tending only once in a while. The overall aim is to combine beauty and bounty with easy maintenance. SEE ALSO ? Improving your soil pages 116–21 Green manures page 119The case for weeding pages 152–3 Keeping your plants healthy pages 154-7 crop rotation What is crop rotation? This is the custom of moving annual and biennial vegetables year by year around a number of different beds. A key technique in traditional husbandry, and equally important as part of efficient organic gardening, crop rotation ensures the same type of plant is not grown in successive years in the same piece of ground. Crops with similar needs and susceptibilities are grouped together, each group moving on to the next bed in the rotation the following year. Thus a crop literally rotates around the arrangement of beds until it returns to the first bed in the sequence a number of years later (see pages 32–5). Rotation helps to avoid disorders by interrupting the life cycles of pests and diseases. It can also prevent the gradual depletion of certain soil nutrients. The principle is a sound insurance against inviting unnecessary problems, even in its simplest form of growing crops wherever you like but making sure no group or individual vegetable occupies the same spot in two consecutive years (with the exception of perennials, see page 31). Just moving a crop a few metres is a worthwhile precaution, but this minimalist approach requires a good memory and efficient organization. Following a full crop rotation scheme is usually more dependable. A simple, efficient way to organize crops is to divide them into the three main traditional groups of root crops, brassicas and legumes, and base the rotation on these. The advantage of this approach is that members of each group need similar soil preparation, so the whole bed can be cultivated accordingly. Vegetables like salad greens, tomatoes and squashes, which do not obviously belong in any of these categories, are fitted in wherever there is space; perennial crops are, of course, not rotated. VARIATIONS With three vegetable groups and three beds to rotate them in annually, each group will get back to where it started in the fourth year, so this standard system is called a four-year (‘course’ or ‘stage’) rotation. It is not inflexible: you can extend the number of years before a group returns to its original position by adding extra courses; some gardeners give maincrop onions a bed to themselves, grow potatoes as a separate course from other roots, or allow one or more fallow years for green manure crops. Nor is the system infallible. Some vegetables, especially winter crops, overlap inconveniently with others. Some pathogens survive in the soil for many years, so you still need to be alert for symptoms of disorders. Opinions differ about whether it is better to isolate crops with common serious disorders – separating potatoes and tomatoes to prevent the spread of blight – or grow them together to keep the problem in one place, where it is more manageable. Experience will determine your own preferred approach. SAMPLE ROTATION PLAN This example of a rotation plan shows how three different allotment beds are planted up with the three main plant groups of legumes, brassicas and root crops over a four-year period. LEGUMES Podded crops like garden peas, French beans, runner beans and broad beans. ?Grow the onion family (bulbing onions, leeks, shallots, salad onions and garlic) here, as they like the same soil preparation. BRASSICAS Cabbages, cauliflowers, Chinese cabbages, oriental greens, Brussels sprouts, calabrese, sprouting broccoli and kale. If brassica diseases are a problem, include turnips and swedes in the brassica group; otherwise treat them as root crops. ? Interplant fully spaced brassicas with salad and leaf crops such as lettuce, chicory, endive, corn salad, land cress, claytonia and spinach. ROOT CROPS Potatoes, carrots, beetroot, radishes, parsnips, swedes, turnips. ? Salad and leaf crops may also be grown with this group. Add sweetcorn, celery and celeriac. OTHER PLANT GROUPS Members of the pumpkin family (squashes, courgettes, marrows, outdoor cucumbers and melons), as well as summer-fruiting vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and aubergines, may be grown with any of the above plant groups, wherever there is space. BED A YEAR 1: LEGUMES CROPS TO GROW Podded vegetables and onion family. CULTIVATION Dig in plenty of manure or compost. After harvest plant onions to overwinter and overlap with Brassicas in Year 2. YEAR 2: BRASSICAS CROPS TO GROW Cabbage family interplanted with salads. CULTIVATION Add leafmould or more compost, forked in or as a mulch, and lime the soil if it is acid. In autumn mulch with more compost, to raise fertility for Root crops in Year 3. YEAR 3: ROOT CROPS CROPS TO GROW Root crops, leaf crops and extras like sweetcorn. CULTIVATION Add more compost. After harvest sow green manure to dig in before Legumes in Year 4. YEAR 4: LEGUMES BED B YEAR 1: BRASSICAS CROPS TO GROW Cabbage family interplanted with salads. CULTIVATION Dig in leafmould or compost, and lime the soil if it is acid. In autumn mulch with more compost, to raise fertility for Root crops in Year 2. YEAR 2: ROOT CROPS CROPS TO GROW Root crops, leaf crops and extras like sweetcorn. CULTIVATION Add more compost. After harvest sow green manure to dig in before Legumes in Year 3. YEAR 3: LEGUMES CROPS TO GROW Podded vegetables and the onion family. CULTIVATION Dig in plenty of manure or compost. After harvest plant onions to overwinter and overlap with Brassicas in Year 4. YEAR 4: BRASSICAS BED C YEAR 1: ROOT CROPS CROPS TO GROW Grow root crops, leaf crops and extras like sweetcorn. CULTIVATION Dig in plenty of compost. After harvest sow green manure to dig in before Legumes in Year 2. YEAR 2: LEGUMES CROPS TO GROW Podded vegetables and the onion family. CULTIVATION Add plenty of manure or compost. After harvest plant onions to overwinter and overlap with Brassicas in Year 3. YEAR 3: BRASSICAS CROPS TO GROW Cabbage family interplanted with salads. CULTIVATION Add leafmould or more compost, forked in or as a mulch, and lime the soil if it is acid. In autumn mulch with more compost, to raise fertility for Root crops in Year 4. YEAR 4: ROOT CROPS COMPANION PLANTING Few plants grow in isolation, and an allotment is as much a community of interactive plants as any natural ecosystem. Plants can influence the welfare of their neighbours for good (symbiosis) or bad (allelopathy): beans do not grow well next to onions, rue suppresses growth and very little thrives under a walnut tree; on the other hand, legumes help root crops to grow well, chives can ward off carrot root flies, and elderberries will encourage soil organisms to decompose organic material. Crop rotation is one obvious form of companion planting, grouping plants with similar needs together. Another example is growing flowers attractive to pollinators or pest predators close to a vulnerable crop: poached egg plant (Limnanthes) flowers early and attracts hoverflies that can control aphids on broad beans, or you could grow a sacrificial alternative host like nasturtiums to lure aphids away from the beans. It is worth experimenting with various different combinations, and observing the results, which can vary from one season or variety to the next. Marigolds (Tagetes), for example, help prevent carrot root fly, and in the greenhouse they are used to discourage whitefly, but you need to choose a strong-smelling variety. Other combinations to explore might include planting tomatoes near asparagus, whose roots exude a substance toxic to tomato eelworms, while French beans interplanted among the brassicas can deter some cabbage root and leaf pests. choosing the bed system The benefits Dividing your growing area into separate beds is the simplest way to organize crop rotation on the ground (see pages 32–5). It makes the routine of tending the whole plot more manageable than when crops are arranged in long rows right across the allotment. The beds are attractive, which is also psychologically satisfying because they are easy to maintain and keep tidy. They also maximize yields because plants can be grown at closer spacings than when access is needed between rows. They are particularly appropriate for organic and biodynamic gardeners, since cultivation concentrates on maintaining very high levels of organic material and fertility in the soil. INCREASING YOUR SPACE Although your plot might seem adequate, even enormous at first, it can quickly fill up with conventionally spaced crops unless you adopt measures to stretch the available space. Gardening in beds might appear to increase the area devoted to paths, but the more intensive plant spacings used can actually raise total yields; forest gardening (see page 31) exploits the vertical dimension by adding extra tiers of productive plant growth above normal ground-level vegetables. Many plants can be grown for height rather than spread to save space. Fruits like apples, plums, gooseberries and redcurrants adapt readily to restricted forms such as cordons, espaliers and fans on posts and wires, or as short (often decorative) standards with branches spreading above ground level plants. Tall varieties of peas or beans and trailing forms of cucumbers or squashes can all be trained on upright structures to limit spread, releasing soil at their base for other shade-tolerant plants. If your plot lies on a slope, consider contouring this in a series of level terraces supported by low walls or banks that can be used for trailing and scrambling plants. Raised beds provide the same growing space as at ground level, but are more comfortable to manage and offer vertical support for extra crops grown round their sides. Fencing or dividing parts of the plot with screens provides sites for extra climbing plants, as do the sides of a fruit cage. And don’t forget shed walls, which can be clothed with seasonal or permanent climbers, together with shorter plants in window boxes and ground-level containers or on shelves (see page 42). The beds can be permanent, defined with fixed edging and separated by maintained paths, or marked out with string and pegs, with intervening paths trodden in. Most paths are straight, but elegant curves are equally practical and can introduce a welcome aesthetic element into a functional landscape. You will find that managing the beds from the paths rather than by walking between rows of vegetables eliminates compaction of the soil and so reduces the need to dig the beds regularly. The critical size for a bed is its width – it must allow you to reach the middle without walking on the soil. Most people find 90–120cm (3–4ft) is a comfortable width. Narrow beds may be as long as you like, although much more than 3m (10ft) means a long walk round to the other side. Plants are usually arranged in short rows from side to side for easy cultivation. Square beds, 90–120cm (3–4ft) each way and accessible from all sides, are good for gradually colonizing new ground, with each square devoted to a single crop. Both styles can be transformed into raised beds by building timber edges or walls to a convenient height, usually 10–20cm (4–8in) or as much as 60cm (2ft) if you have difficulty with bending or mobility. A raised bed of this kind is also an effective remedy for serious drainage problems. Paths should be at least 30cm (12in) wide. No-dig beds Annual digging can destroy soil structure, dry out light soils and bring more weed seeds to the surface to germinate. If you adopt a minimal cultivation or ‘no-dig’ policy, remember that it is worth deeply digging over the plot or individual beds initially, to open up heavy or compacted ground, improve aeration and work in manure or compost. Thereafter it should be enough to cultivate the top 10–20cm (4–8in) of soil, where root growth tends to be concentrated, loosening the surface and turning in annual dressings or 8cm-(3in-) deep mulches of organic material. Decreasing yields or poor drainage will indicate if deep digging and manuring will need to be repeated in the future. allotment story ON THE WATERFRONT Many allotment sites have a long history, sometimes stretching back centuries, and even millennia in the case of the floating gardens of Amiens, in the French region of Picardie. Not far from the cathedral the River Somme flows through the city, across a low marshy floodplain that was first drained by the Romans when France was part of Gaul. They cultivated the reclaimed ground to produce vegetables to feed the troops, a practice that has continued to this day. The land is liable to flood, which replenished its fertility and often allowed three main crops a year to be raised by the market gardeners who developed the area and maintained its 55 kilometres (34 miles) of irrigation and drainage channels, or rieux. By the end of the 19th century there were more than a thousand growers, who sold their produce at the water market in Amiens every Saturday. Today only a few commercial growers are left on 25 hectares (62 acres) of Les Hortillonages, as the floating gardens are known. The rest of the 300 hectares (741 acres) is divided into about 1,300 allotment plots and leisure gardens, often with a weekend cabin, and accessible mainly by shallow-bottomed boat through the intricate network of channels. It is possible to visit the gardens, as well as the surviving Saturday water market, throughout the year, and every June there is a medieval market and festival. structures & equipment The shed The allotment shed stands at the heart of the plot-holder’s domain, a private sanctuary that has often inspired creativity and latent building skills (see pages 42–3). Whether flatpack or makeshift in style, it is a key structure that dominates the plot and provides refuge from bad weather, a store for tools and materials, and very often a simple retreat in which to relax, brew tea and potter. On some allotment sites, inspired DIY and frugal recycling of old doors, pallets, plastic sheeting, household paint and roofing felt is permissible. The result is an enchanted huddle of shacks and shanties that tap into childhood memories of dens and seem to be in a constant state of renovation or repair. Elsewhere, strict regulations insist that all plot-holders use the standard issue of a basic weatherboarded and unpainted tool store. Whatever its design, your shed is an essential part of the allotment’s working environment, and so needs some thought if it is to be weatherproof, secure and well equipped for your various activities on site. IDEAL SPECIFICATION If you are considering buying or building your own shed, you should take into account the following important features. Size Many allotment associations set a maximum base size of 2.1 x 1.5m (7 x 5ft). A smaller area might seem sufficient, but you should decide first if you need room for working or for sitting and resting as well as for storing your tools and tackle. Make sure that there is enough headroom to stand comfortably, allowing for any structural cross-braces in the roof. Floor The floor should be sound, firm and durable. Pressure-treated boards are standard, laid on treated bearers that sit on a bed of gravel for good drainage. A permanent concrete foundation may not be allowed, but concrete blocks will keep the floor bearers off the ground. Roof The roof must be strong, ideally made of tongue-and-groove boards rather than plywood, and waterproofed with felt that covers overhanging eaves. A flat roof must have sufficient fall to shed rainwater. A covering of turf or plants would provide a ‘green’ solution. Add guttering to collect rainwater (into water butts) and protect the shed walls. Door The door should be wide enough for comfortable access by you and your largest equipment, such as a wheelbarrow, and soundly constructed with strong ledges and braces. Furniture such as hinges and latches should be rust-resistant – galvanized or stainless steel, for example – and you must have a strong lock (see also page 43). SITE REGULATIONS Check your tenancy agreement before buying or building a shed. Some allotment associations have guidelines on details such as floor, window or door size and structure, appearance, colour, foundations, stability, and distance from the plot boundary. You might need written consent for any deviation from these, even express permission to erect a shed in the first place. MATERIALS If allowed by your allotment association, a serviceable shed can be built from a host of discarded materials. Traditional materials include doors, window frames, wooden pallets and corrugated iron. On some sites, redundant structures such as railway wagons, upturned boats, sectional concrete garages, even seaside chalets and refreshment kiosks have been used. Most new sheds are made of pressure-treated or resinous softwood, clad with shiplap, feather-edged or tongue-and-groove weatherboarding, and with a ridged or nearly flat roof protected with felt. Hot-dipped galvanized steel sheds are durable and secure, but unattractive. FOUNDATIONS Any shed will need a sound, dry foundation. All but the cheapest will be supplied with a floor and instructions for constructing a firm, damp-proof foundation. Site rules often specify how this should be constructed, or give alternative ways to stabilize the structure – for example, sitting the shed on a damp-proof membrane and anchoring it by sinking metal or wooden piles to which it may be fastened. One reliable method is to remove enough soil over the base area to accommodate a shingle, sand and slab floor. Consolidate the exposed soil firmly, spread a 5cm (2in) deep layer of shingle and firm this in turn. Top with a 2.5cm (1in) layer of sharp sand, then lay paving slabs to finish. Extending this arrangement beyond the floor area would provide a surface for seating and for standing containers or equipment. An alternative (and also simpler) arrangement is to dig out trenches one-spit deep where the floor bearers rest, fill these with gravel and position the bearers on these: make sure the bearers and the floor are made of treated timber, and that the floor itself sits clear of the ground. FITTING OUT YOUR SHED You can adapt or equip the outside of your shed for a number of working purposes or use it to extend your growing space in various ways. Furnishing the shed depends on its proposed use and the amount of room inside. You could simply stack and store materials in a small building, but tools and equipment soon accumulate and it will be much easier to find what you want with a little organization. ? Walls can be used to extend the potential storage space if you construct shelves for small tools, gloves, seeds and tins. Attach these to the main framework (not the boarding) with brackets. Screw an old bookcase or wooden frame to the wall for storing pots and seed trays out of the way. You might also find a small cupboard, tool box or old chest of drawers useful, but make sure it is securely fastened to the shed frame or floor to prevent easy removal by thieves. ? Suspend gardening tools from hooks or clips on the wall or roof braces to free floor space for larger items like rolls of netting, a wheelbarrow, boxes of stored root crops. Hang up empty paint tins or small buckets to hold string, cloths, gloves, plant labels and hand tools, and have a large hook or bracket for coiled hoses. A rack or simple timber hangers attached to roof members will keep canes and poles tidy and off the floor. ? A bulldog clip on the back of the door gives instant access to gloves. A nail keeps keys in a safe place. ? Old mats, a chair, tea-making facilities, even a small camp stove can help transform a functional shed into a welcoming haven where you can rest, admire or plan your work or shelter from the rain. (Make sure you check with your site manager what the regulations are concerning the use of flammable equipment.) ? Window boxes (whether your shed has windows or not) can accommodate flowering plants and crops like herbs, trailing tomatoes or leaf salads at a convenient height. Attach trellis to the walls for growing sweet peas, climbing annual crops or fruit such as trained figs, grapes, cordon apples and pears, or thornless brambles. ? Use overhanging eaves to support strings for climbing crops like runner beans and outdoor cucumbers, growing in the ground or in troughs of compost. ? Build a bench for sitting in the sun, with useful storage space beneath it. ? Attach a collapsible table-top or work surface to the outside for potting and sowing activities, especially if space is restricted inside the shed. You might want an old table or home-made work surface within for various jobs and as extra storage. If you make your own, consider a drop-down top hinged to the inside wall, supported by folding brackets. SECURITY The risks of forcible entry and theft from an unattended shed are high, and exempt from many association insurance schemes, but guidelines have been issued by police forces and site committees to help prevent loss. ? Provide a strong door and a large lock or padlock. ? Cover any windows with rigid wire mesh or grilles. ? Conceal screw fittings with metal plates. ? Use clutch head or ‘one-way’ screws because they are hard to remove. ? Fit a battery-operated alarm. ? Mark tools with barcodes or postcodes. ? Anchor the shed to piles so it is hard to topple over. ? Cover walls with trellis and plants for disguise and stability. The greenhouse Adding a greenhouse to the site can enhance your growing options by offering a protected environment for tender crops and those at sensitive stages of growth, especially early and late in the season. Some gardeners consider a cold frame more essential and versatile (see pages 48–9), but the two structures can work hand in hand, and it is always an advantage to have an all-weather place with enough headroom for working comfortably. A greenhouse can accommodate larger plants, though, including permanent fruiting climbers such as a grapevine or trained apricots. The minimum useful size is considered to be 2.4m (8ft) long by 1.8m (6ft) wide, or 1.2m (4ft) for a lean-to model, but even the smallest house can be an asset in a limited area, especially if you arrange the internal layout to exclude a permanent central pathway. Although a great variety of shapes is possible, the most serviceable is the traditional span design, with sides that are upright or gently inclining inwards, and glazed to ground level. Some kinds need a foundation similar to that used for sheds (see page 41), while many aluminium models can be pegged down into level ground. MATERIALS Greenhouse frames usually come in softwood or aluminium, while the glazing is either glass or plastic. Softwood is cheap, but the construction needs to be strong and this can reduce the total glazed area. Regular maintenance, even of comparatively durable cedar models, is essential for long life. Aluminium-framed greenhouses are virtually indestructible and maintenance-free, and have thin glazing bars that maximize light transmission. They are more expensive than timber models, though, and need a very firm base to ensure rigidity. Glass is the best glazing material because of its good light transmission and heat retention. It is, however, expensive, heavy and easily broken – a possible risk on allotments where vandalism is a problem, but if treated with care, it will last indefinitely. CHECK POINTS ? Check if a base is included with your chosen model, and whether this creates a step or barrier in the doorway. ? The door should fit tightly and include a kick panel at the bottom for safety; sliding doors make it easier to adjust the ventilation. ? Make sure the height at the ridge provides adequate headroom. ? Most greenhouses come with a single ventilator, which provides insufficient ventilation: add another on the opposite side of the roof, and at least one (possibly a louvred type) in the side for a free flow of air. Plastic is lighter and cheaper than glass, but has a limited life according to its type. Flat and corrugated polyester rigid panels are the most expensive. They are almost as clear as glass, but difficult to keep clean. Polycarbonate, especially if double or triple-walled, is more serviceable and affordable. Cheapest of all is flexible plastic sheeting, with a useful life of five years or more, after which it turns yellow and brittle. FITTING & EQUIPPING Careful organization of a greenhouse is vital, especially in spring and autumn when the house can be full of plants waiting to go out or plants just brought in for frost protection. Plan the floor space first. You might prefer a solid floor with fixed staging round the sides, or ground-level growing space, perhaps in raised beds and with removable staging that can be moved outside in summer or collapsed for storing. Growing bags can be arranged on the soil or solid floors and on staging to house plants temporarily. Shelves on the sides and in the roof can extend the growing and display space, while brackets will support hanging baskets and strings or wires for training climbing plants. POLYTUNNEL ALTERNATIVE Cheaper and easier to erect than a greenhouse, a polytunnel can offer most of the advantages of a greenhouse, although the cladding of heavy-duty plastic sheeting is less heat-retentive and condensation can be a problem. Depending on its quality, the plastic sheet will need replacing every 3–5 years. Make sure there is a door at each end of the tunnel for efficient ventilation. Fitting automatic vent openers that can be adjusted to open at a certain temperature can relieve you from worry and prevent injury to plants. An overhead reservoir can be used to supply water to capillary matting on the staging or to drip tubes positioned in containers to alleviate watering chores. Blinds are expensive, but shade netting is available for installing in summer as an alternative to applying shade paint. TEMPORARY FRAMES You may be reluctant to sacrifice good growing space to a structure that might be needed for only part of the year, perhaps for spring frost protection. Lightweight collapsible frames are available that can be dismantled when they are not needed. Alternatively, you could make your own from a variety of materials. For example, a large bottomless box with its top replaced by a sheet of clear plastic can cover several seed trays (on very cold nights simply spread an old blanket or sheets of bubble polythene over the top). An enclosure of straw bales covered with old car windscreens or double glazing panels makes a snug frame, and the straw can be used afterwards for mulching or as a carbon ingredient in a compost heap (see pages 116–17). Professional growers often arrange empty crates and boxes to make the frame walls, draping black polythene over the walls and floor like a pond liner, and then sheeting over the top with thick polythene (polytunnel grade). Cold frames Although they are sometimes regarded as simple greenhouse accessories, cold frames are versatile, sometimes portable, infinitely adjustable and often efficient substitutes for a greenhouse. They are also less expensive than a greenhouse, and provide more space and greater adjustability than cloches. Easily constructed at home, they can be adapted to span a narrow bed or to fit on top of a compost heap to make a hot bed (see page 53). At its simplest the standard frame is a four-sided box structure with a lid that slopes to shed water and opens to admit air. It is accessed from the top, via a lid that is glazed with plastic or glass, and that can be lifted or removed to adjust ventilation. The sides may be glazed or solid. Fixed frames can have a soil floor for planting, or a solid base of slabs or gravel spread over a weed-proof membrane, which is useful for housing pots and trays. A portable frame can be moved directly over a growing crop for protection until established, after which it is moved elsewhere in the same way as cloches. SITING A COLD FRAME You usually have little choice over the position of a greenhouse on your allotment – it may be decided for you by accessibility or site rules – but a permanent frame can go almost anywhere. The traditional position is against one side of the greenhouse to avoid carrying plants far and to share some of the stored warmth (some sophisticated frames have adjustable rear panels to allow heat transfer from the greenhouse). Installing a frame on each side of the greenhouse should provide all the space you will need for protection and hardening off. There will probably be a lot of plant movement to and from the frame, so site a freestanding version in a convenient position: placing it at the end of a nursery bed would keep all plant-raising activities together, or you might prefer a corner of a main vegetable bed to save time when planting out. Make sure the frame is easily accessible all round, and ideally not too far from your water supply. If possible, provide shelter from prevailing winds and avoid shade from overhanging trees. A frame is normally aligned so that its sloping lid receives maximum sunlight and heat, but a lightly shaded frame can be equally useful in summer to avoid scorching sensitive plants. Covers Protective sheets such as transparent plastic film and woven horticultural fleece can be used to cover crops and exclude a couple of degrees of frost. Horticultural fleece is light and permeable, and may be left in place over the lifetime of a crop for warmth or protection from pests or diseases, floating higher as the plants grow. Cloches Glass sheets (discarded window panes, for example) are joined with special clips (see page 146) or a home-made arrangement of clothes pegs, string or wire to make tents for covering rows or individual plants. Traditional lantern and commercial barn or tent cloches are also available. Plastic cloches and continuous mini-tunnels of film supported by wire hoops can cover a large area. Use cloches early and late in the year to add several weeks to the growing season. SEE ALSO ? The greenhouse year pages 170–4 The cold frame year page 175 USING A COLD FRAME ? Spread a layer of gravel over a weed-proof membrane if you intend to use the frame for containers or for trays and plugs of seedlings (below). ? Fit a hinged lid with casement stays or notch a strip of wood to make a support for adjusting ventilation. Hinge the lid and prop it open to ventilate the cold frame during the day (bottom), then close it at night to keep in the heat. ? When not in use, prevent wooden frames from rotting by lifting them clear of the ground with a block at each corner. ? Stand pots and trays on a layer of gravel over a woven plastic membrane to suppress weeds and deter slugs and snails. ? Treat a soil-based frame like an extra vegetable bed: water, manure, mulch and rotate crops as you would in the open ground. Fruit cages If you can disperse fruit around the plot, it is possible to harvest good crops from unprotected plants without significant losses to birds or squirrels. But smaller plantings, especially of attractive fruit such as redcurrants, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, may be stripped before they even show colour, and some kind of protection could be vital. An individual bush can be enclosed with netting draped like a tent over 3–4 flexible canes arched to meet at the top, where they are tied. Protect a row of raspberries or cordon redcurrants by erecting a post at each end, with several timber cross-pieces, like a telegraph pole: attach wire to these, stretched from one end of the row to the other, and arrange curtains of netting over the wires and clear of the fruit. Gathering vulnerable fruit together in a cage is a more permanent solution. Various ready-made cages are available to buy, or you can build your own from strong bamboo canes, coppiced hazel poles or metal pipes. Erect uprights 1.8–2.1m (6–7ft) high for clear headroom, space them about 1.8m (6ft) apart, and join their tops with cross bars to support the roof. Clad the sides with 1–2cm ( / ;– / in) mesh plastic or wire netting (but note that squirrels easily chew through plastic), and the roof with 2cm ( / in) plastic netting. RECYCLING SCAFFOLDING Discarded scaffolding poles and their unions are a valuable resource for a host of structures on the plot. Use them, for example, to build fruit cages and low frames round brassica beds for netting against birds in winter; use them as row supports for runner beans or sweet peas and trained fruit like raspberries or tree-fruit cordons and espaliers; also for arches over paths, planted with squash, climbing cucumbers and thornless brambles. Either fold back part of the side netting for access or add a hinged door, but make sure this fits tightly. The roof net can be removed after fruit crops are harvested to allow birds to clean up any pests, but leave it in place if finches tend to attack the fruit buds in winter. However, the roof should always be taken off if snow is forecast. Open the door or (where this is possible) roll up the sides while the fruit is flowering, to admit pollinating insects. Somewhere to sit As in any other garden, an allotment plot should have a place for you to recover from hard work, entertain friends and other plot-holders, or just plan and dream. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to sit on an upturned bucket or a cast-off chaise longue, although comfort is obviously important. Collapsible furniture such as picnic tables or deck chairs can be stored safely in a locked shed. Permanent structures like benches or caf? tables need to be secured by bolting them to the shed wall or anchoring them with metal straps to pegs or piles driven firmly into the ground. Treat your furniture to an annual spring clean: treat or paint metal with rust-proofing, and paint or oil timber pieces to keep rot and woodworm at bay. FAMILY AREAS Looking after a plot is often a family activity that can be made more appealing to children by creating one or two areas especially for them. While you might feel that a small lawn and its attendant mowing is a waste of space and effort, other places for play will often fit in unobtrusively. ? Perhaps the most popular piece of equipment is a swing, easily made from a strong board, old tyre or special rubber safety seat suspended on lengths of rope from a tree branch. Ropes on their own or a rope ladder may be suitable, but check for wear once or twice a year. ? Younger children might prefer a sand pit, made from a sunken rigid pond liner filled with clean silver sand; when no longer used, the sand can be incorporated into potting compost, and the pit transformed into a pond. ? If fires are allowed on site, construct a simple fire pit for those end-of-day family gatherings. Excavate a circular hole a spit or so deep and line it with 3–4 courses of bricks to form a neat ring wall. A fire of wood offcuts and dry prunings will make a safe fire, where you can bake some of your own foil-wrapped potatoes. Watering equipment Changing environmental conditions mean that conserving water is becoming a priority for many, and if you need to walk any distance with a full can of mains water, making the most of what is available can be imperative. COLLECTING & STORING Rain is the obvious source of water, apart from the site tap, and you need to arrange ways to collect it for use during dry periods. Fit guttering and downpipes to all roofs and collect the water in a butt. If possible, attach an overflow to a second container, or direct surplus water to a nearby wildlife pond. To supplement the supply, run sloping lengths of guttering along fences and walls, and leave out buckets in rainy weather. Bring from home containers of ‘grey’ water (domestic waste from washing and bathing) and keep in a separate tank for watering permanent crops. Feed a pond with water from gullies, drains and overflows from water butts, and make sure it is deep enough for submerging a watering can. If the ground lies wet or waterlogged, lay drains leading to a pond or buried tank. Water butts are often available from local authorities or discounted from the allotment site office. Substitutes include plastic dustbins, fruit barrels, old baths, discarded water tanks and cisterns and oil drums. Make sure you cover them with lids in dry weather to reduce evaporation. SEE ALSO ? Making your own compost pages 116–17 Managing water pages 148–9 Fertilizers & feeding pages 150–1 COMPOST BINS The tidiest and most efficient way to make compost (see pages 116–17) is to assemble all the ingredients in a bin. (Having two bins is preferable, though: after you have filled one bin, leave the contents to decompose while you fill the second.) There are various kinds, from simple folding corrugated plastic squares to sophisticated models with liquid reservoirs, insulating jackets and integral top blankets. Many local authorities offer discounted bins. Building your own compost bin is an easy and inexpensive alternative, using a simple style and waste materials. Possibilities include: ? wire mesh arranged round four corner stakes to make a square container, lined with cardboard for insulation. ? a large sturdy cardboard box with holes cut in the base and sides; this rots down with the contents. ? complete builder’s pallets set on edge and tied or wired together; pack the cavities with newspapers or straw. ? a clean oil drum or plastic barrel, perforated with 2.5cm (1in) holes in the base and about halfway up the sides of the drum. ? a plastic dustbin raised on concrete blocks: drill holes in the base and catch the liquid in a tin. MAKING A HOT BED Fresh manure or green waste heats up as it decays. A hot bed can use this warmth to help raise early crops and provide extra growing space later in the season. If you can get a load of fresh farmyard manure or make a new compost heap in late winter, pack the material inside a timber container (old pallet boards are ideal). Adding moist tree leaves to the manure helps to moderate the initial surge of heat and the subsequent cooling. Cover and leave to warm up for two weeks. Spread a 10–15cm (4–6in) layer of sieved soil over the heap, and top with a portable cold frame. Sow this with early radishes and carrots or turnips in rows, interplanted with young lettuces started in early winter. Pull the radishes 3–4 weeks later, leaving the lettuces to finish bulking up. When these are cleared, replace with summer cauliflower plants, and finally thin the carrots or turnips. All should be harvested in time to plant courgettes, marrows or cucumbers for summer. In the autumn, clear the plants and empty the entire contents of the hot bed for digging in. Tools Good tools help to make light work of the allotment routine. Buy the best, use them sensitively and maintain them well, and they could give a lifetime’s service; regular use will condition them until they are comfortable and familiar, like an old gardening jacket or pair of boots. CHOOSING TOOLS Buying cheap tools is a false economy, as they rarely perform well or last long, and the experience could disillusion you. Go for top quality, and be prepared to spend money; handle the tool before buying (never buy unseen), and ask advice if you are in doubt. Test it for size, weight and balance: you need to be confident about possibly using it for long periods without tiring. Consider the materials the tool is made from. An expensive stainless steel spade is easier to use and to clean when digging clay, for example, but might be unjustifiably costly if your soil is light and sandy; a round-tined rake is more durable in stony soil than one with flat pressed tines; a trowel with a brightly painted handle is easier to find in undergrowth. TOOL CARE ? Clean your tools regularly and particularly thoroughly before storing them for any length of time. ? Pay special attention to soil on the blades and handles, where it can set hard and cause discomfort, and sap or resin deposits on pruning tools, which can be hard to clean once dry. ? Collect up all tools and equipment at the end of each day: rain does them no good, and overlooked tools are easily lost or stolen. ? Lock them safely in your shed, in their usual places to save time searching. ? Give them a thorough service at the end of the season: clean, sharpen and oil parts as appropriate (see page 210). BASIC NECESSITIES Although allotment tools often seem to multiply over the years, you need only a simple selection of essential tools for most cultivation jobs. ? SPADE This is the main digging tool, with a full size or smaller (border) steel blade attached to a shaft of varying length, topped with a plastic or wooden T- or D-shaped handle. Metal shafts are stronger, but less sympathetic in use and they cannot be replaced if they break. For comfort, make sure the blade has a tread on both shoulders, and its neck should be made from a single forged piece of metal. ?FORK Structurally similar in other respects to a spade, this has tines instead of a blade, and is used for loosening and breaking down soil after digging, and for lifting plants. The tines should be forged from a single piece of steel for maximum strength. Some forks and spades have cranked handles or very long, straight handles for extra leverage. ?HOE There are two important types of hoe, the main weeding tool. A Dutch, or push, hoe has a flat rectangular blade that is scuffled through the soil as you walk backwards, whereas the draw, or swan-necked, hoe, with its blade at right angles to the handle, is used with a chopping action as you move forwards. Gardeners generally disagree about which kind is the more useful. Other variations are available. ? RAKE This is a valuable tool for levelling and refining the soil. The width of the heads and length of the shafts can vary, but the most important quality is the strength of the head and tines, which should be made from forged steel. Check carefully for weight and balance, as it is difficult to manoeuvre a too-heavy rake head. ? TROWEL & HAND FORK These key hand tools are used for planting and a host of other operations. The trowel blade and fork tines are of varying shapes and sizes, and are joined to their handles by a straight or cranked neck – test which is easier to wield, check that the handle fits your palm comfortably, and make sure the blade/tines are secured in the handle with a separate ferrule, or metal ring. ?GARDEN LINE Convenient, but easily replaced by sticks and strong twine. ?WATERING CAN Essential on plots where hosepipes cannot be used. Metal is more durable than plastic, but it is heavier and may be less comfortable for frequent use. A large can holds about 9 litres (2 gals) and a filled can will weigh around 9 kilos (20lbs), so you may prefer to choose a smaller model. A fine rose (sprinkler head) for seedlings and a coarser one for general watering should cover all needs. ?GARDENING GLOVES These are invaluable for the messier jobs and for handling prickly and stinging plants. Leather is the strongest material; choose a supple kind for easier manipulation when pruning, for example, and a stronger rigger’s quality for the heaviest tasks. USEFUL EXTRAS Other tools can be acquired as needed, and might include the following: ? WHEELBARROW An early addition to your equipment, for moving large amounts of soil or manure. ? SECATEURS, SHEARS, KNIFE For pruning fruit and hedges. ? MATTOCK Heavy chisel-bladed hoe, easier than a spade for hard ground. ? CULTIVATOR Hand tiller with bent tines and a long or short handle. ? BUCKET Always useful for holding both solid and liquid materials. ? CARRYING SHEET OR BAG Reduces trips to the compost heap with handfuls of weeds or trimmings. ? SHARPENING STONE, FILE Essential for keeping tool edges keen. ? POWER TOOLS A rotary cultivator and hedge trimmer are both useful but they can be hired. Crops for your allotment (#ulink_4283dd09-1929-5c73-be58-6ed20a56229b) The allotment landscape is full of all kinds of vegetables, herbs, fruit and even flowers. Choosing, planning and organizing your own personal selection of varieties to grow is an important part of ensuring success and productivity on your plot. selecting your crops Making a wish list The initial stages in establishing your perfect allotment all involve a certain amount of inevitability: the size of your plot, the type of soil and so on. Deciding how you are going to manage the land and plants, however, depends more on personal criteria, as does choosing what to grow, which is the subject of this chapter. The following pages will help you compile a wish list of appropriate crops and varieties from the wealth that is available. GREENHOUSE CROPS If you have a greenhouse or cold frame, explore the possibilities for growing extra plants to mature under glass, with all the advantages of extra warmth and shelter. You can grow many of the principal outdoor vegetables like carrots and lettuces earlier and later than you would in the open air, as well as tender crops such as cucumbers, peppers, okra and lima (butter) beans. Make sure you choose appropriate varieties: some of those used outside are dual-purpose and crop equally well (or better) under glass, but varieties that are listed only for indoor use have often been developed specifically for that purpose. Check whether these crops require additional heat, which will add to your growing costs, or merely passive protection from the elements. HELPING YOU CHOOSE ? Compile a list of essential crops: include your favourites and any that might be expensive or elusive in shops. Add flowers for cutting and extras such as green manure or companion plants. ? Make a reserve list of plants you would grow if there is room. This could include vegetables like swedes, cabbages and maincrop potatoes that might be readily available locally; those difficult to grow well – cauliflowers or celery, for example; or crops to try for the first time. ? Match the essential list to your resources, to check that you have the space to accommodate them all, as well as enough time and energy to see to their needs. Check how long they take to mature, in case you can double-crop the space or fit in a catch- or intercrop. ? Decide if you want a long, steady harvest of a wide variety of produce, or perhaps several main flushes for freezing and storing: this will often determine which variety you choose and how much to grow. Make sure not everything matures at once. ? Go through catalogues to choose varieties. Note their qualities, especially commendations such as the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Compare with other plot-holders, who might already have discovered the ideal variety for the local soil and climate. The easiest vegetables to grow Beetroot, broad beans, carrots, dwarf French beans, courgettes, kale, loose leaf lettuce (left), marrows, New Zealand spinach, perpetual spinach, ridge cucumbers, Swiss chard Crops with the greatest yield for the least effort Beetroot, carrots, courgettes (above), dwarf French beans, gooseberries, lettuce, parsley, tomatoes PLANNING YOUR PLOT You will find it useful to draw up a rough plan of the plot, together with any intended rotation scheme (see pages 32–5) and the positions of permanent plants such as fruit and perennial herbs or vegetables. Break down your list of crops into rotation groups (brassicas, root crops and so on), so you can allocate these to particular beds, and annotate each crop with the length of time it is in the ground – remember to deduct any time that the crop spends growing under glass or in a nursery bed before being planted out. Now use this raw information to work out the growing sequences in each bed. For example, if you have chosen a fast-growing variety of a particular crop, you might be able to fit two or more successional sowings in the same place before the end of the season. Overwintered crops like Brussels sprouts and autumn-planted onions overlap from one year to the next, but there is usually time before and after they occupy the ground to grow a crop of something else. Identify gaps and see if you can fit in a quick catch crop, or use the space to grow a green manure. CHIEF CROPS The variety of vegetables, fruit and herbs you could grow is enormous, but practical considerations such as time, climate and limited space inevitably mean that you have to be very selective, concentrating first on staples and favourites, and adding a few minor or speculative crops if you have the room or inclination. This section of the book includes the most commonly grown allotment crops in their traditional garden groups: roots (potatoes, carrots, for example), legumes (peas, beans), brassicas (cabbages, calabrese), onion family, pumpkin family (squashes, courgettes), leaves and salads (lettuce, spinach), stem and perennial vegetables (celery, asparagus) and fruiting vegetables (sweetcorn, tomatoes), together with a selection of herbs and fruit. For rotation purposes, however, the botanical grouping for certain crops may need to override popular perception – for example, most gardeners regard turnips as a root crop, whereas botanically they are brassicas. SEE ALSO ? Crop rotation pages 32–5 Green manures page 119Combining crops page 142 Growing under glass pages 170–5Sowing for succession page 185 GROWING FOR SHOW Rivalry is traditional on allotments and there will often be an annual show for the best produce: you have every right to be proud of a good crop and might like to consider entering a particularly outstanding sample. Growing crops for competition, however, involves dedication, careful attention to detail and even esoteric growing methods (these are widely alleged but seldom revealed). Special seed varieties, an early start under glass to ensure the longest possible growing season and lavish preparation are usually essential, as well as a knowledge of class qualifying rules in the show schedule. Winning is immensely satisfying, but it is a good idea to wait until you are experienced at raising conventional crops before venturing into this challenging field, where the size, appearance and grooming of the entry often count for more than consumer delight. Don’t ignore marginal or less familiar crops, though: the plot is yours for growing almost anything you choose. You might like to try Asian vegetables like karella or chick peas, grains such as wild rice or bread wheat, grapes for wine-making, or those crops that are generally unobtainable in shops, for example, whitecurrants, hyacinth beans, golden raspberries, skirret or fresh fenugreek. DESIRABLE QUALITIES Even the dourest gardener looks forward to the arrival of seed and plant lists in the winter – the annual opportunity to dream and experiment. Choices on offer may seem bewildering, especially varieties of popular crops like peas, peppers and tomatoes. The best catalogues give an honest appraisal of varieties, although you sometimes need to read between the lines, especially with new, highly praised introductions. Don’t readily abandon a dependable, old variety for a new, untried one; always grow it alongside for comparison first. Characteristics you might want to consider include: Eating quality This is probably the most important characteristic, and includes flavour and texture as well as nutritional value. Tolerance Hardiness and resistance to pests, diseases or drought all reduce the need for intervention or treatment. Appearance We eat with our eyes, so crop size, shape and colour may be important, as are height and spread. Time to maturity This helps you allocate space and plan early or successional sowings. Performance Includes quick germination and predictable growth under a range of conditions. Ease of care Self-supporting or self-blanching, easy to harvest or quick to prepare. Adaptability Flexible sowing times or growing methods, or perhaps ability to overwinter. Keeping time Stays good when mature or stores well. SEE ALSO ? Crop rotation pages 32–5 Sowing & planting times pages 132–3Keeping your plants healthy pages 154–7 Harvesting & storing pages 160–3 Quick guide to crop growing times Knowing roughly how long a particular vegetable occupies the ground can help you match crops to available space and avoid leaving areas unused. Planning an ambitious growing programme may seem complicated, but sorting the various vegetables into slower crops and those that sprint to maturity can often simplify the task. First decide where to grow staples like potatoes and long-term crops such as winter leeks or sprouting broccoli, and then fit the faster ones around or between them. This table of sprinter and long-distance vegetables gives the number of months you can expect each to be in the ground, but this is an approximate guide and times can be longer or shorter depending on variety, locality and season. allotment story FROM ONE COB… Many tenants on British allotments come from all over the world, bringing with them local crops that might seem unfamiliar to their neighbours. A generation ago, novelties that are now commonplace would have included peppers, aubergines, sweetcorn, squash, mizuna, even garlic, but they have been replaced by more recent introductions such as callaloo from the Caribbean, Far Eastern rat-tail radishes and bitter gourds from the Indian subcontinent. Interest and curiosity spread fast on an allotment site, and other plot-holders are generally keen to try any uncommon fruit or vegetable. Seed suppliers, always alert to something new, soon follow suit, with results that can be seen in their expanding and diversified catalogues. Raising from seed is the mainstay of vegetable growing on an allotment. Every packet is a promise in the hand, each seed the simple source of a new plant from which more seeds can be saved to perpetuate a new, superior or favourite strain. Saving your own seed is the traditional way in which crops and varieties have spread from one garden 0r continent to another. Charlie came to England from Jamaica decades ago, and having an allotment meant that he could grow some of his favourites from home, especially callaloo and sweetcorn. He didn’t always save the seeds, but one particular year he threw out a whole cob and its grains germinated. Soon he had the best corn on site, and now he never buys seed, just saves it in time-honoured style from one year to the next. selecting your crops root crops The main root crops profiled here belong to several families, so their specific needs differ in various ways. Radishes, swedes and turnips are brassicas, sharing vulnerability to family problems like clubroot as well as a dislike of acid or dry soils. Most other roots enjoy well-broken, slightly acid soil with good drainage and fairly high nutrient residues from a previous crop, and fit well in rotations after legumes and brassicas. To avoid root distortion during transplanting, they are generally sown direct, in a deep, finely tilthed seedbed free from stones, although some varieties can be multi-sown in modules. Potatoes like rich, well-manured ground and are often planted on their own as a separate rotation course. (See also alternative root crops, page 180.) Potatoes Solanum tuberosum Easy to grow and highly productive in improved soils, potatoes are an important staple on most plots and can also be used as a pioneer crop on poor or reclaimed ground. Most gardeners grow early varieties for lifting in summer for ‘new’ potatoes, and the same kinds can be planted after midsummer for a late crop (see also page 199). Plants are raised from small, selected, certified (disease-free) tubers, or ‘sets’, which are started into growth indoors. The plants are not hardy and their topgrowth needs protection from frost. There are hundreds of varieties, many of them classic kinds with distinctive colours and flavours; modern kinds are often bred for disease- and pest-resistance or drought-tolerance. HOW TO GROW Buy sets early and chit them (see page 135) at least 6 weeks before planting – early varieties in early spring and late summer, second earlies and maincrop kinds in late spring. Choose an open, sunny position in well-drained soil that has not been recently limed; avoid ground where potatoes were grown in the past 3 years. (Potatoes can also be grown in containers and sacks, see page 199.) Plant tubers with their shoots uppermost, 10–15cm (4–6in) deep (the greater depth on light soils), in straight drills or individual holes (see page 184 for pogo planter), and cover with soil to leave a slight ridge. First earlies can be cloched to protect and advance growth; all varieties can be planted through black polythene or a sheet mulch (see page 122) to avoid earthing up later. Protect the tops from frost with soil or newspaper, and earth up stems when 15–20cm (6–8in) high by drawing soil with a hoe or rake up to half their height in a uniform ridge – this stops tubers turning green in the light. Once is enough for first earlies, but repeat with other varieties every 2–3 weeks until their tops meet. Water earlies regularly throughout, main crops once or twice when flowering begins. Start harvesting earlies when their flowers open fully and a trial scrape reveals useful tubers: lift with a fork and continue as needed. Lift maincrops when the foliage turns brown: cut this off and wait about 2 weeks before forking up the complete crop for storing (see page 206). WHEN TO PLANT Early spring (earlies) to late spring SPACINGEarlies: between tubers 30cm (12in), between rows 45cm (18in); others: between tubers 38cm (15in), between rows 75cm (30in) TIME TO MATURITYEarlies: 12–14 weeks; 2nd earlies: 15–18 weeks; maincrop: 18–22 weeks HEIGHT 45–90cm (18–36in) AVERAGE YIELD Up to 1.3kg (3lb) per plant VARIETIESExtra early: ‘Rocket’, ‘Swift’; 1st early: ‘Arran Pilot’, ‘Concorde’, ‘Pentland Javelin’; 2nd early: ‘Estima’, ‘Kestrel’, ‘Wilja’; maincrop: ‘Cara’, ‘Maxine’, ‘Picasso’ Carrots Daucus carota The numerous varieties – mainly orange or red but sometimes purple, yellow or white – are divided into two main groups. Small fast-maturing (‘early’ or ‘bunching’) varieties are used for early, late (see page 200) and successional sowings, while maincrop kinds are larger, take longer to grow and keep well in store. HOW TO GROW Choose warm, sheltered sites for early sowings and open, sunny positions for other kinds. Soils should be light and friable, well drained and free from larger stones, and with plenty of organic matter from a previous crop. Sow thinly in drills, 1–2cm ( / – / in) deep, in a finely prepared seedbed, earliest and last sowings in a frame or under cloches. If carrot fly is a problem, time sowings to miss attacks or take suitable precautions (see page 190). Keep the soil consistently moist during germination, and water every 2–3 weeks thereafter. Thin in stages by pinching off surplus seedlings at surface level (destroy these to avoid luring pests); weed carefully at first, and then mulch when plants have 2–3 true leaves. Pull or fork up roots when large enough, and then firm or water the disturbed soil; clear maincrops for storing (see page 160) from mid-autumn onwards. Sowing in modules For the earliest crops, sow a round variety like ‘Lisa’ or ‘Parmex’ in pots, soil blocks or modules in late winter. Sow 5–6 seeds in each cell and leave unthinned. Plant strong clusters 23cm (9in) apart each way in a frame or used growing bags indoors, or outdoors after hardening off in mid-spring (see page 139). WHEN TO SOW Early spring to early autumn GERMINATION 2–3 weeks at 7°C (45°F) minimum SPACINGEarly: 8–10cm (3–4in); maincrop: 5–8cm (2–3in); all in rows 15cm (6in) apart TIME TO MATURITYEarly: 7–10 weeks; maincrop: 10–16 weeks HEIGHT 23–38cm (9–15in) AVERAGE YIELD 225–450g (8–16oz) per 30cm (12in) row VARIETIESEarly: ‘Amsterdam Forcing’, ‘Early Nantes’, ‘Flyaway’, ‘Sytan’; maincrop: ‘Autumn King’, ‘Carson’, ‘Favourite’ Beetroot Beta vulgaris An easy crop with round, flat or tapering roots that are usually red, but also yellow, white or bicoloured. With the exception of ‘monogerm’ varieties like ‘Solo’, seeds are capsules producing several seedlings that need thinning. Choose a bolt-resistant variety for earliest sowings. For ‘baby beet’ grow at half the normal distance apart, or use alternate roots from maincrops, leaving the rest to mature for storing. The white variety ‘Albina Vereduna’ has good-flavoured leaves for use as greens; those of ‘Bull’s Blood’ are deepest red and ornamental. HOW TO GROW Sow outdoors in full sun for good roots and less foliage, 2cm ( / in) deep at monthly intervals from about 4 weeks before the last frosts; earlier crops can be multi-sown indoors (see page 135). Sow maincrops at least 12–14 weeks before autumn frosts. Thin several times, keep weed-free until large enough to mulch, and water every 2–3 weeks in dry weather. Start pulling alternate roots when 5cm (2in) across, about 2 months after sowing. Lift and store maincrops like carrots after twisting, rather than cutting, off the foliage. WHEN TO SOW Late spring to late summer; from late winter under glass GERMINATION 2 weeks at 7°C (45°F) minimum SPACING 10cm (4in) in rows 23–30cm (9–12in) apart; or 15cm (6in) square TIME TO MATURITY 8–16 weeks HEIGHT 15–30cm (6–12in) AVERAGE YIELD 450g (1lb) per 30cm (12in) row VARIETIES ‘Alto’, ‘Boltardy’, ‘Burpees Golden’, ‘Chioggia’, ‘Cylindra’, ‘Forono’ Radishes Raphanus sativus One of the fastest crops from seed, radishes have red, white or bicoloured roots in a range of shapes and sizes. Summer varieties with small, mildly flavoured roots are successionally sown over a long season, often as a catch- or intercrop (see page 142 Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/andi-clevely/the-allotment-book/?lfrom=688855901) на ЛитРес. 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